1. Field of the Invention
The present embodiment of invention relates to portable computing devices and electronic workflows and in particular, user interfaces for portable computing device and the automated workflow of electronic documents between and portable computing device, a network and a server.
2. Description of the Background Art
The use of portable computing devices has become commonplace for many users. In addition to having a conventional desktop computer, many users also have some type of portable computing device. Examples of present-day computing devices include electronic devices for reading such as the Reader from Sony Corp., the Kindle from Amazon, and the Nook from Barnes & Noble. Smaller portable computing devices include a plethora of smart phones including the iPhone from Apple Computer Inc., the Blackberry from Research In Motion and the Pre from Palm just to name a few. There have also been increased sales of notebook laptops and tablet computers offering different levels of processing capability and size.
One particular problem with such prior devices is that they are difficult to operate and configure for the layman or unsophisticated user. For example, these portable computing devices are very similar to desktop computers and have a variety of configuration details such as input device, output device, communication type, available connections, data synchronization which can make them very difficult to use. Furthermore, many of the devices require a conventional keyboard or some pseudo-simulated type version of the keyboard in which to input data to the portable computing devices. This requires that the users learn a number of different interfaces to interact with portable computing devices. Those interfaces may also change depending on the application that is being run by the portable computing device. Requiring the use of such numerous and different interfaces reduces the usability and convenience of such devices.
Another problem with the prior art computing devices is that they are designed so that the user has control over every aspect of the computing experience. It is assumed that the user knows where a document is to be routed, who it should be routed to, what attachments or additional information is necessary, what format the receiver is willing to accept or able to process as well as a variety of other control functions. Again, for the unsophisticated user, this large number of requirements or controls makes the technology unusable or usable only after investing a significant amount of time into learning different parameters and what the setting should be in order to use the devices desired. For example, for the unsophisticated user, the mere act of saving a file before exiting a document or transitioning to another operation or application program often causes the loss of data (and the repetition of data input or other steps) because the act of saving is not performed. Thus there is a need for user interfaces that are simple to use and a way of processing documents that is automatic.